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I’m very happy to announce the date for the next WOzFest, WOzFest 14.25045 MHz – Saturday 23 November 2019, starting around midday Sydney time (UTC+11:00).

The theme for WOzFest 14.25045 MHz is the Apple ][ europlus, my favourite Apple ][! More generally, international Apple ][s (including the j-plus, which I have just secured a sample of) and clones will be the sub-theme – changing the PSU voltage and crystal frequency to allow (monochrome) PAL output is just the start of what Apple and international clone manufacturers did to get their machines suited to international markets.

I will also be continuing to work on software preservation with the Applesauce. Applesauce is John Morris’ phenomenal USB interface for Apple ][ disk drives which takes Apple ][ software preservation to new heights by capturing magnetic flux-level images of disks.

I’ve unfortunately not achieved much imaging since WOzFest 13 Sector, so I am hoping to really ramp up, with Alex from the What is the Apple IIGS website sending me four boxes of original software disks to image. It’s also looking like another set of disks will be personally delivered from interstate by a new attendee!

I’m expecting at least three Applesauces to be on hand, mine, Russell’s, and Michael’s (from The Retro Computing Roundtable). Michael has continued to acquire software titles which he’s hoping to prepare flux images of, and has previously preserved Sunburst titles (such as Learning to Cope with Pressure) at WOzFests.

I expect Applesauces to feature reasonably prominently at WOzFests for the foreseeable future. Not only on the strength of how many disks I have to image, but also based on the interest so far expressed by attendees and other members of the community.

Attendees are welcome to bring as many disks as possible for imaging – I’m not sure how many we’ll get done, though, at 3-5 minutes each (including entering metadata). I think I have about a thousand which need processing – and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration!

Existing projects are more than welcome to be brought along as well – whether it be repairs, upgrades, show and tells of new acquisitions…whatever you want to work on.

I’ve not yet organised any Skype calls – I’ll give it some thought over the next few weeks.

As always, it will be held at my place at Wollstonecraft, on Sydney’s Lower North Shore – contact me for the address. Start time is, appropriately, 12:00(ish), with an expected finish time of around 21:30. I may be a bit fuzzy after an early supplier Xmas party, but I reckon a room full of Apple ][s and Apple ][ enthusiasts will be a better hangover cure than hair of the dog!

No lunch provided, but nibbles, soft drinks and Apple cider (OK, I will be utilising hair of the dog as well) will be available (I ask for a small contribution towards snacks), and we’ll all chip in for delivery pizza for dinner whenever we notice we’re hungry.

With WOzFest 14.25045 MHz I’m trying something new – funding via Ko-Fi. This allows small (or large!) donations to be made, check out my intro post there for the lowdown, and feel free to drop anything you can in the tin to help me to run WOzFest moving forward.